Word Origin & History

continual mid-14c., continuell, from O.Fr. continuel (12c.), from L. continuus (see continue). That which is continual is that which is either always going on or recurs at short intervals and never comes to an end; that which is continuous is that in which there is no break between the beginning and the end. Related: Continually (c.1300, contynuelliche).

Example Sentences for continual

If life is not a continual denial of the past, then it is nothing.

What, in the face of continual and unrelenting changes, could have saved the Wickiup?

When Doris was present, she kept them in a continual turmoil.

There will be continual alarms and greatly added difficulties.

There are continual jests about the contrast between this Ulsterman's austerity and the conviviality of Colonel Clancy.